The first set of photos
show various events, such as a gig at the Golden Nugget, Passover, Memorial Day, some
garden scenes and photos that I took when I presented my paper in Milan,
Italy. The second set of photos focus specifically on the church that I
visited - "Duomo". I had quickly run through it thirteen years ago -
when I previously presented a paper at Italy CMG. The last time I was
there, I went up on the roof area and all of the complex and intricate stone
work blew me away. The cathedral was built, starting in the 14th century and the construction continued well into the nineteenth centtury. This second set shows some of the incredible detail -
with a focus on the gargoyles. I was once told that the term "gargoyle"
came from the sound of water rushing through the gargoyle since they were
originally used as drain spouts.
Here's what Mark Twain wrote about Duomo:
What a wonder it is! So grand, so solemn, so
vast! And yet so delicate, so airy, so graceful! A very world of solid weight,
and yet it seems ...a delusion of frostwork that might vanish with a
breath!...
The central one of its five great doors is bordered with a bas-relief of birds
and fruits and beasts and insects, which have been so ingeniously carved out
of the marble that they seem like living creatures-- and the figures are so
numerous and the design so complex, that one might study it a week without
exhausting its interest...everywhere that a niche or a perch can be found
about the enormous building, from summit to base, there is a marble statue,
and every statue is a study in itself...
Away above, on the lofty roof, rank on rank of carved and fretted spires
spring high in the air, and through their rich tracery one sees the sky
beyond. ...(Up on) the roof...springing from its broad marble flagstones, were
the long files of spires, looking very tall close at hand, but diminishing in
the distance...We could see, now, that the statue on the top of each was the
size of a large man, though they all looked like dolls from the street...
They say that the Cathedral of Milan is second only to St. Peter's at Rome. I
cannot understand how it can be second to anything made by human hands.
